How do I get DS to go to bed in the early evening if we co-sleep at night?

[DoggyDaycare]

My DS is 7 months. We ended up co-sleeping after three nights on the run when I woke up in an armchair having fallen asleep feeding him, which seemed too dangerous to risk again, so it was never a particular plan to co-sleep. Although I have loved it.

From about 7pm he feeds/naps on a pillow on my lap until we all go to bed at 11pm. A few cursory attempts to put him in his cot (attached to the bed) on his own earlier in the evening have led to pretty much immediate screaming.

I am now at the point where I could really do with an hour to myself in the evening, which I haven't had since he was born. I am so envious of mothers whose babies go down at 7 or 8pm giving them their evening back...I haven't had an uninterrupted bath or shower since August.....

Unfortunately I don't think it works to try and put baby down early if they are used to co sleeping. The people I know who co sleep don't seem to be able to manage it.
I would say that some kind of sleep training to get him in his cot all night woukd be your answer, and sleep training doesn't always mean cry it out btw

I used to feed to sleep in the bed and then sneak away. We had a rustly mattress protector and a baby monitor so I'd leap up the stairs at any signs of movement. Plus I had a bedside cot, so left him in or next to that, he had a long way to crawl or roll to fall out. And I put pillows on the floor just in case.

I have tried once or twice to feed to sleep and then leave, but he woke up straight away. Perhaps I need to try again for a few nights. We live in a very small one bed flat so I would hear him wake easily from the living room and he is not yet crawling.

To be honest I don't really understand what sleep training actually is...I don't think I could leave him to cry,so I'm not sure what else I can do- if I put him down, he screams, I pick him up- and so on....can you suggest something for me, AllOther...

At that age I used to feed mine to sleep on my side so they were already in the bed, and in a grobag so they were cosy. Used to find if quite easy to sneak away once they were sleeping.

How long are you waiting for him to fall asleep? At DS' most wakeful period I had to wait at least 20 minutes after he actually fell asleep, for him to enter deep sleep. The other thing I used to do was pick his arm up and drop it. If they twitch/react to it then they are not in a deep sleep yet, but when they are really deeply asleep you can drop the arm right on their face and they don't move at all (I usually dropped it on his chest or the bed, I'm not mean!) In fact after a while of doing this you can notice whether the arm is floppy without dropping it at all - they will slightly tense when you touch them when still in light sleep.

Get a copy of The No Cry Sleep Solution. It's co sleeping friendly and has various ideas in there to try.

I do what Gobblers says and add a sleepyhead to the mix. It's Co sleep friendly but also easily transported and can go in her cot/travel cot when needed. Pricy though.

... and I assumed for 6 long months it was impossible to put a Co sleeping baby down and go. Spent many evenings reading my kindle ebay shopping in the dark. Nope. She doesn't care so long as I put her down and appear when she wakes for a feed (or dh). Unless she's got a cold but crib sleeping babies would be the same then I think?